The Ordinance of 1784, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the U.S. Congress under the Articles of Confederation, was an early plan for organizing and governing the western territories of the United States. Its primary goal was to establish a process for how new territories could become states and enter the Union on equal footing with the original 13 states.
Key provisions of the ordinance included:
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Territorial Division: The western lands (primarily the Northwest Territory) would be divided into separate territories. These territories would be governed by temporary governments until they met population thresholds for statehood.
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Path to Statehood: Once a territory's population reached the size of the smallest existing state, it could draft a constitution and apply for admission to the Union as a full state.
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Equality of States: New states formed from these territories would be admitted on an equal basis with the original 13 states, ensuring no political inequality between older and newer states.
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Ban on Hereditary Titles: Jefferson included a clause prohibiting the granting of hereditary titles in the new territories, in line with his democratic and anti-aristocratic beliefs.
While the Ordinance of 1784 provided the basic framework for organizing and governing new territories, it lacked some of the more detailed provisions on land surveys and governance that would come later in the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Jefferson's original draft also included a proposal to ban slavery in the new territories after 1800, but this clause was not adopted in the final version.
Although it was not fully implemented, the Ordinance of 1784 set the stage for the future organization and governance of U.S. territories and was a foundational document in the westward expansion of the United States.